AN UNUSUAL REQUEST
Proverbs 30:7-9 NKJ
7 Two things I request of You
(Deprive me not before I die):
8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
9 Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.
These are the words of Agur. I am not sure who Agur is, but he has an unusual request of the Lord. Actually, he has two requests. The first one is easy to understand. To remove falsehood and lies from him. This means he will have to stop watching mainstream American media. Oh, sorry, there was no mainstream media in Agur’s day, but falsehood and lies were still available and still damaging.
The second request is interesting. Agur did not want too much wealth or too little wealth. His reasoning was sound. If he had too much, he would be full and deny the Lord. If he had too little, he would steal and bring dishonor to God. Some will take this verse and say that God does not want us to have too much. That God wants us to have just enough to take care of ourselves and no more. But is that what this is saying?
When God blessed Abraham and Isaac, they had so much it bothered their neighbors. Solomon was the richest man ever, so he surely was not writing this proverb. And when Jesus fed the five thousand men, plus women and children, they took up 12 baskets full of leftovers. And everyone was filled. It was Jesus who almost sank two fishing boats with a catch. So, what is up with Agur?
I believe Agur was speaking of his own tendencies. He knew if he had an abundance, that he would be full and stray away from the Lord. Remember, Paul wrote and said it was not money, but the love of money, that was a problem. The key issue is the condition of our heart. If having a full bank account moves you away from God, there is a heart problem. We should be able to see this from Agur’s response to poverty. He said if he was too poor, he would steal. Now, hang on a bit. I have been poor before, where there was not enough to handle our bills, and we did not eat well as a family. But I never looked at Joy and said, if we don’t come out of this poverty situation, I am going to steal something. Stealing was not in my heart. If it was a given that poverty led to stealing, then as a church, we should be against it. And if having an abundance made people leave the Lord, we should never encourage people to sow financial seeds and believe that God is not mocked and that a harvest is coming.
Once again, the key is what is in our hearts. The Lord helped my family move out of that poverty situation to where we had an abundance. The abundance of finances allowed us to give and bless the church, ministries, family members, and people in desperate need. The abundance did not turn our hearts away. If anything, it made us more grateful to God.
So, I am not praying Agur’s prayer. Instead, my prayer is that I may know the Lord in a greater way and represent Him to those who are lost, hurting, and living in the dark. As I keep my heart in that direction, money does not move me because money is not my goal.
APPLICATION
We always have to check our hearts. What is the thing that moves us away from the Lord that we need to be aware of? When are we so satisfied that we don’t sense a need for God? Or when are we so desperate that we would do something we know would dishonor Him? As we go through the various seasons of life, staying connected to the Lord becomes the safeguard that keeps us on the right track.
PRAYER
Lord, I desire to please You and know You. Make me aware of when I am becoming too complacent. Make me aware of when the wrong kind of hunger is driving me. When all is said and done, You are my Shepherd and my Lord, and my trust is in You.